Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyz Republic and Turkey all increased their gold reserves in May.
Russia and Kazakhstan expanded their gold reserves for an eighth straight month in May, buying the metal to diversify assets due to increasing political, economic and monetary uncertainty.
Russian holdings, the seventh-largest by country, climbed 6.2 metric tons to 996.2 tons, taking gains this year to 4% after expanding by 8.5% in 2012, International Monetary Fund data show.
In ounce terms, Russia raised gold holdings to 32.027 million ounces in May from 31.829 million ounces in April.